Avengers: Shorts and One-Shots
by Laughing.Thalia
Summary: A series of Avengers One Shots and Short fics. Every chapter is completely unrelated from the others. For the sake or the search engine I'm going to say: Black Widow Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye Clint Barton, Hulk Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Iron Man Tony Stark Loki Laufeyson and Captain America Steve Rogers Director Nick Fury of SHIELD Ms Pepper Potts Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes.
1. Short and One-Shots Intro

**A/N: Hiya. I'm the author of these short fics and one shots. Now I must say if get better as it goes along so I suggest starting from the back and working forward.**

**I hope you enjoy these and feel free to send in prompts and ideas and stuff about the Avengers and other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.**

**If you like a fic make sure you leave a review and if you like the fics follow me or the story to get updates whenever I post a new chapter also favourite me and this fic and check out my other fics. I have 20, you're bound to like at least one of them!**


	2. JARVIS Knew

**JARVIS knew**

**A/N: at some point in the future this may become the intro for a story by the same title but it depends so don't get your hopes up.**

Tony had many secrets. That was a fact widely known amongst, SHIELD, the Avengers, Rhodey, JARVIS, the bots and Pepper. He was actually quite fragile and poetic but not many people knew that. In fact no one knew that seeing as JARVIS isn't a person. Everyone knew the mechanical movements, logical brain, playboy exterior, everyone knew the Billionaire in all of his arrogant, sarcastic brilliance, everyone just assumed that Tony didn't care about anyone or anything besides himself; he let them think that, it made him less of a threat.

Stark was good though. He didn't just have one mask, he had many. In his Iron Man suit he was a selfless hero flying around saving people at his own risk. To the public Tony Stark was a cocky, genius who was better than you in every way and knew it. To the Avengers he was a hero but he was also a narcissistic ass. To Nick Fury he was a loose cannon, a liability as well as a valuable asset, Fury didn't know how to deal with him but usually he got the job done. Most SHIELD Personnel didn't know him at all but either they loved him or they hated him, there was no in between. Coulson had liked him although he felt he didn't take anything seriously and was a care free happy-go-lucky billionaire with some daddy issues and a weird case of PSTD. To Rhodes he was a caring (but sarcastic) Best Friend making up silly nicknames and insulting each other like friends do. To Pepper he was usually sweet although sometimes insensitive, she could tell that he loved her and cared for her immensely she saw his fractured soul and wished she could help him, she thought she had but she didn't know, JARVIS knew.

JARVIS knew how fragile and broken Tony really was. JARVIS knew how prone to panic attacks and outbursts Tony was. JARVIS knew how empty and numb he was, how full of pain, hurt and betrayal he was. JARVIS knew how much he suffered, how hard it was for Tony to continue living day after day, how hard it was for Tony to keep his mask up, and hide everything from a skilled person such as Natasha Romanoff.

It hurt JARVIS to see his creator- his father drown himself in bottle after bottle of whiskey, or when he was dying with palladium poisoning and refused to tell anyone, when he had panic attacks or freaked out about submerging and loud bangs, when he locked himself in his lab isolated and alone with no food or drink besides black coffee and alcohol. He hated that Mr Stark wouldn't turn to his close friends Pepper and Rhodey for help or at least Fury or the other Avengers, maybe Bruce.

So you can imagine JARVIS' happiness when Natasha lay on her bed contemplating and suddenly asked "JARVIS?"

"Yes Miss Romanoff."

"Does Stark suffer from PTSD?"

"I'm sorry but telling you any details is against my programming." _Yes!_ He wanted to scream _Yes he does help him please!_

"Has he told anyone?"

"He has told me but due to my lack of life I suppose I don't count."

"Why was it so hard for me to detect his trauma?"

"I am unable to answer that question... Ms Romanoff?"

"Yes J."

"This is against my Programming in telling you but seeing as it is with my programming of protecting Sir I will override it. Sir has a hard time confiding in people and he has a hard time," JARVIS hesitated for the first time since Natasha had been staying at the tower " living."

"You mean he's suicidal?!" Natasha exclaimed

No answer which in itself _was_ an answer.

"Don't worry JARVIS I'll take care of him as best as I can, as long as I'm alive Tony won't be jumping off any buildings."


	3. Merry Christmas?

**Merry Christmas?**

**A/N: There might be a Christmas Tony in your future.**

Tony wasn't normal. He didn't have a normal life being a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. He didn't have a normal life being a part time Super Hero flying around the world fighting aliens, mischievous asgardian gods, terrorists, evil geniuses and kidnappers. He didn't have a normal childhood with his neglecting father, lack of social skills and brilliant mind causing him to skip grades. He didn't have a normal family and now he didn't even have a family both of them dying aged 21. Of course all these abnormalities would add up to not having a normal Christmas either. No family gathering around the tree unwrapping presents, or sitting around a large stuffed Turkey surrounded by cranberries saying grace. Tony had none of that. Nope. Nada. Zilch.

So imagine Tony's face when the good captain says "So who's cooking for the Christmas feast we are going to have?!"  
Let's just say Tony spat his coffee about half way across the kitchen. And remember he has a big kitchen.


	4. What Lies Beneath

**A/N: TBH theses were originally the beginnings of stories but then they got so off track and so terrible I dumped them and picked out the best parts so yeah. Now they are one shots.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I'm not profiting from this in any way.**

**What Lies Beneath**

Tony Stark was not an emotional man and for all his bravado he wasn't very public Very little was known about his private life and what was known was monitored closely by JARVIS, he was alerted any time his name came up in the media. Now don't get me wrong as sarcastic and arrogant and pig-headed as he was, he wasn't narcissistic quite the opposite actually, he had very little self worth (Thanks Howard) and huge trust issues (Courtesy of Obie) of course the Press didn't know this. So of course when the tabloids found out that CEO Pepper Potts had managed to get playboy Tony Stark to commit to a relationship, the media went nuts. They were always looking for a good story on the two of them but Pepper being as organised as she was made it impossible for private details to become common knowledge. So no one besides Pepper and Rhodey knew what lay beneath the surface of his playboy exterior and even they weren't in very deep.


	5. They were the Avengers

Tony Stark knelt on the cold floor, his arms were tied behind his back, his head bowed and his eyes closed, The Avengers were sure that the two guards watching him hadn't seen Clint and Natasha sneak in. The others, Steve, Bruce and Thor were outside waiting for the signal from the two super spy assassins. Natasha got out a straw-blowy-shooty-thing and put two tranquiliser darts in it, she blew into one end and shot them both, then Clint swooped in and stopped them from hitting the ground so as not to make a sound and alert anyone of their presence. They ushered the Avengers inside and looked back at Tony, they had all been silent so they were surprised when Tony's hoarse voice called out "Natasha?"

"Yeah, it's me, I'm here, we're all here Tony, the Avengers and I we're going to get you out." replied Black Widow

Tony's head snapped up and his eyes snapped open, now that he was facing them they could see the damage, his cheek had a long deep scar that was still bleeding and his shirt was wet with blood and sweat. "Tony, are you... alright, I mean I can see your not but..." Steve trailed off awkwardly not sure what to say

"I'm fine Capsicle." He stood up and turned around, Natasha untied him, he then proceeded to start tapping the walls, "where's that damned hollow spot?" he mumbled as he tapped finally he found it and he searched for a lever or a button anything that might open the wall then he stopped and smiled and turned to Thor "Hey Point Break, I require your Hammer over here."

They had come and saved him, even when his own father had failed they had not, they were true friends and a true family, They were The Avengers.


	6. Not So Quick to Judge

**A/N: I know I do a lot of Loki stories and he's always the bad guy but I love Loki and I love canon stuff so it makes sense!**

The Avengers sat around the table discussing what had just happened "Loki seems to have used ghost magic from the depths of Valhalla. It causes the person to see people who have died that they have unresolved issues with." Explained Thor

"and we were all infected." Deadpanned Natasha explicit as always

"actually," corrected Bruce "we're effected not infected, there's a difference just to- just to clarify."

Tony looked panicked "So anyone who hates us or who we hate? Anyone who would have any reason at all to blame us for their death or misfortune?"

"Yes I believe that is correct." Answered Thor

"Why would you care it's not like many people hate you." Judged Steve

Tony snapped, he pinned Captain America against the wall holding him by his collar and said venomously "Listen Capsicle I know you haven't been around the past few decades but I wouldn't be so quick to judge! You may not know this but I used to be what people called 'The Merchant of Death' selling weapons to the good guys and not realising I was also selling to the enemy as well. You may not know this but I was kidnapped and tortured in Afghanistan and the guy who saved my life died while I flew off in the suit that he helped me build, You may not know this but my oldest friend and father figure Stane betrayed me, tried to kill me, sold my weapons to terrorists and then freaking died!" he was yelling "You may not know this but the last thing i said to my mother was i hate you and you definitely don't know this but the Oh so great, Howard Stark was the man who told me that I was worthless and nothing compared to you, he was the one who called me a nothing, yeah he also died! So I'll say it Rogers with my track record there could be from 3-30,000 ghosts following me around!" then he let Steve go and stormed out of the room.

Everyone, even Fury, was too shocked to say anything, Tony was usually a pretty mellow guy although very secretive and he had not only lost it but he had basically just spilled a secret he had kept for the past 20 years. Natasha broke the silence "My evaluation didn't find any of that."

Fury added "_My_ evaluation didn't find any of that!"

"I knew. About Howard I mean." Stated Bruce

"How?" asked Clint "Not even Fury or Nat could figure that out."

Bruce said quietly "takes one to know one."

They remained silent for a while before Steve said "I really screwed up with Tony didn't I."

Natasha told them "You really did. You shouldn't be so quick to judge."

**A/N: Okay my first one-shot! This story is OVER! Closed for business, fin, finished, finite, 100% DONE! Goodbye my fellow readers thx for reading (and reviewing) *Hint hint* *nudge nudge* *wink wink***


	7. Flying, Falling (Stony)

**A/N: I just discovered that this story is in a community called '****Tony Stark/Iron Man + Steve Rogers/Captain America = Love'****So I'm doing a Stony story just for you guys! This is a really long Short Fic...**

_Flying. He was flying above New York what's that down there? Is that Thor? And the other Avengers! In battle! Why aren't I down there helping? Because of the nuke on my back, I'm flying towards a worm hole. I can't breathe. Flying. No not flying. Falling. I was falling towards the streets of Manhattan. I was going to die. I hit the ground. BAM! I was already dead._

Tony woke up screaming and thrashing about on the sofa in the Living room which is now referred to as the common room because that's where the Avengers hang out together. Last night they had been watching a The Hobbit trilogy and Tony had fallen asleep, everyone else had gone back to their own rooms.

Steve being the soldier he was had woken up at his usual time despite having stayed up half the night with the others, at 6 O'clock he was already showered, dressed and in the kitchen making breakfast. He was humming an old 1940's song as he made scrambled eggs but stopped when he heard Tony screaming in the other room. He turned off the stove and rushed into the common room to find a very panicked looking Tony Stark thrashing around on the sofa. He sat up straight breathing heavily and looked crazily around the room as if something was going to attack him. When his eyes fell on Steve he looked slightly embarrassed, his cheeks flushed and he looked away.

Steve asked concerned "Nightmare?" Tony nodded "Yeah I know the feeling... want to talk about it?" Steve sympathised

Tony raised an eyebrow "I'm not much of a sharer and no offence Capsicle but you're not the best comforter either."

Steve shrugged "There's a first time for everything."

"Well ok then... My dream started off pretty well I was just flying over New York and then I see Thor, being the most noticeable and then I see you guys and your mid battle and art first I can't see what's going on and then I realise you're fighting the chatari and I'm thinking why aren't I helping. And I realise it's because there's a freaking Nuke on my back and I'm flying straight into a worm hole that I hadn't seen before and when I flew in I couldn't breathe and... I died."

"What?"

"I was dead Steve! Hulk didn't catch me, he didn't wake me up I just fell and died and I was dead and I felt dead. That whole thing when you wake up before you hit the ground, yeah that isn't real! I don't have that! I just die and wake up."

Steve frowned worriedly "You make it sound like it's happened before."

"Try every night since the Battle of Manhattan."

"WHAT! Tony why didn't you say anything!? We're your team and your friends we could have helped you. I mean you'd be a fool to think that none of us hadn't had nightmares!"

Tony scoffed "Well Spangles you haven't mentioned any nightmares until now you hypocrite!"

"What, do you want me to tell you all about my dreams now? Because you're an even worse comforter than me!"

"Excuse me but you haven't even attempted to comfort me yet!"

The two laughed for a while and then suddenly Tony's laughter turned into sobs. Steve looked at him in alarm unsure of how to react, he did the first thing that came to his mind and hugged Tony in a comforting way tucking Tony's head underneath his chin. He let Tony cry into his chest and Steve started to relax even if the situation was still totally bizarre. Steve had never been this close physically to Tony and from where he was sitting he could smell Tony's shampoo, it was apple; he could also smell the oil and grease from the workshop. Steve had never liked the smell of oil but on Tony it was almost infectious, he buried his nose in Tony's hair and Tony went rigid. Oh God, he messed up. What was he thinking! This situation was already awkward enough without Steve sniffing Tony's hair.

Tony pulled away slightly and Steve let his arms back to his sides, his cheeks were reddening and he was pleading with them for it to stop. Just as he thought Tony was gonna call him a weirdo for sniffing his hair and make fun of him for the rest of the month, Tony leaned forward again but instead of hugging Steve he pressed his lips against his and kissed him passionately.

Steve's mind went blank all he could think about were Tony's lips on his; Tony's tongue in his mouth; Tony's hands running up and down his body, sliding under his shirt and stroking his back. Tony pulled away slightly so he could feel his hot breath on his cheeks and whispered "I love you."

Steve didn't know how to respond his feelings were all out of balance. After about 15 seconds of Steve not answering, Tony pulled back completely taking Steve's silence as a rejection. He stuttered out "I mean... uuum..."

"Tony-"

"No no! It's fine, I mean what was I thinking!" a nervous laugh rose from his throat

"Tony-" Steve tried again

"I mean you're from the 40's you probably have never thought about any guy like that especially not me! I mean you knew my father! And-"

Steve kissed Tony shutting him up he pulled back to see the stunned face of Tony Stark "I love you too Tony."


	8. No I'm Stalling

**A/N: When my current stories are over this will probably come back as a full fic just saying so don't be surprised. I know the last Short Fic was very long. Long enough to be it's own fic but it was for a community that my fic wound up in so idc!**

Avengers meeting. Again. Tony was really getting sick of SHIELD and Fury thinking he was at their constant beck and call, he had his own life and a company to look after, granted Pepper did most of the work but still, it was his company!

"Natasha how's your shoulder?" asked Fury for his mission assessment

"It would be better if Stark had been where I told him to be."

Tony defended "I was protecting about 100 civilians! Am I supposed to just leave them to make sure you don't get an ouchy on your shoulder!"

Fury wrote something down and then asked Clint "What happened to your bow?"

"uuuum. A robot fell on me and I used it to shimmy it off of me."

"Why didn't Thor, Steve or Tony help?"

"Steve was fighting about 12 robots at once Thor was taking out the flying ones and Tony was holding up a building to stop it from crushing some civilians."

Fury raised an eyebrow "And how exactly did this building fall?"

Bruce raised his hand sheepishly "That might have been me."

"mmmm." Fury jotted some more things down "You work more or less as a team but you all do separate things, you need to work more together, I know Stark doesn't play well with others and Natasha's a lone wolf but I expected more from you two blondes." He looked at Steve ad Thor

"Well if you took my suggestion of putting Rhodey on the team than maybe we wouldn't have these little problems! There'd be two iron suits flying around the field."

"Stark I'm afraid that if we get Colonel Rhodes that we'd probably kick you out of the Avengers."

"I own 40% of SHIELD. I am SHIELD's number one investor. I am a public icon and I contribute to almost all your tech. If you kicked me off the Avengers all your tech would mysteriously and conveniently stop working as JARVIS initiates project Robot apocalypse, which I put together after watching every robot-takes-over-the-world movie." Tony said all this with his usual You-can't-tell-if-I'm-joking face

Fury put down his clipboard and leaned forward menacingly "Are you threatening me Stark?"

"No I'm stalling." Tony smirked at the inside joke that only he and Loki would ever get

"What?" was everyone else' reaction

"Nothing. Inside joke. I mean it's not a threat, it's a promise." Tony could see that even he was being cliché but what else could he say?

**A/N: Any request?**


	9. Unbreakable

"Stark be careful, Loki's made some of my toughest agents cry. And I don't mean fake Natasha-crying, I mean like real proper tears admittedly I was one of them." Warned Fury through gritted teeth

"Loki made you cry!?" Tony started choking on his coffee at the confession he had just gotten from Fury "If he made you cry what hope do I have?"

Fury sighed "Stark we both know that your mask is a thousand times better than mine. I may be _the _spy but you're Tony Stark."

The other Avengers watched this conversation strained, every one of them (except Bruce for obvious reasons) had tried to confront Loki and had all ended up in embarrassingly real tears. Loki seemed to be able to pick through your brain and push all the right buttons that just sent you over the edge. They didn't know what Fury meant about Tony's mask because Tony's entire life was splashed all over the internet and every newspaper for anyone to read.

Tony took a deep breath and walked through the door to the cell where Loki was being kept. About five minutes passed before Tony rushed out. He wasn't crying but he seemed to be in shock, he sunk to the ground and when Bruce approached him he warned him off with his hand. After a few deep breaths Tony stood up and turned back towards the door.

Steve exclaimed "You're not going back in there are you!?"

Without looking at them Tony replied "I know his play now, nothing he can say can hurt me. You forget that I have to deal with 21st Century tabloids every day." He walked back into the room and not five minutes later Tony called everyone into the room.

They were surprised to see Loki crying hugging his knees to his chest sobbing detachedly "It was Thanos! Thanos made me do it and no one can stop him. He has an army, ha has the mind stone, he's unstoppable!"

Clint turned to Tony in shock and asked "How...?"

"I reverse his tactics. It wasn't the nicest thing to do but he attacked us by using our biggest insecurities against us. But we know he's a frost giant, second best in the eyes of Odin. Not even worthy of the throne. Be persuasive enough people will believe anything. Loki should know he's the Silver tongue."

Fury shook his head in disbelief "Your mask really is unbreakable."

"I do not understand. Son of Stark does not appear to be wearing a mask and the Iron Man mask is breakable." Thor confused to Midgardians sayings as always

Natasha sighed "They're talking about his emotional mask Thor. His emotional mask is unbreakable."


	10. Relapse

**A/N: This story is so contrasting with Unbreakable but that's the thing about Tony, he has so many layers there will never stop being good fics about him and the Avengers. I love how Marvel made him so adaptable so etcentric witha hint of mad genius, throw in a dash of self hate and a sprinkle of a very strong facade and you have the best characters of the fictional world.**

"Stark what were you thinking!" Fury yelled at Tony for disobeying him

"Excuse me Fury maybe I was thinking I would save 200 lives! And guess what I did!" Tony was not going to take the heat for a fallen building that hadn't even hurt anyone

"I gave you a direct order!"

That's it! Tony snapped for the first time in over twenty years, he was relapsing "Oh well Captain America goes against orders; he gets a medal and is called a hero. I do it and I'm an arrogant bastard!" Of course he was referring to Steve's first rescue mission where he had gone in blind and unauthorised with only his father and Peggy Carter as help, Steve had come out with 200 soldiers who everyone thought was dead. They save the same amount of people they did the same thing; so why is it that while Tony was scolded by his father and now by Fury while Steve was raised above the rest as a selfless hero and praised.

"Stark how did you know about that those files aren't even on our systems?" Fury was about to grill Tony out for breaking in and finding the paper copies.

"You don't think the Great Howard Stark used to tell me how amazing Captain America is? Or how I am nothing compared to him; or how I should just die so he won't have to bother with me anymore, not that he ever did; or how I'm such a screw up I can't even kill myself correctly!" shit. He had relapsed. He hadn't relapsed in 2o years, he hadn't thought about that dark time in his life when he was just a kid desperate for his fathers love or even his approval when he had tried to kill himself via overdose, of course he had taken too little and Howard had managed to pass it off as a kid being stupid and taking too much by accident. Only Maria, Jarvis and Howard had known the truth and he'd never told anyone.

They would think he was weak. They would hate him. Just like his father hated him, like how Obie hated him and how the world hated him. He couldn't deal with the closest thing he had to friends besides Pepper and Rhodey slip away. He couldn't let him leave him alone again. But he couldn't stop them either they would just walk out of his life and not look back, they didn't need him. He was replaceable, expandable.

And that my faithful readers, is when Tony Stark started hyperventilating.

**A/N: It's a short fic, I'll keep it short.**


	11. Sir, He's Completely Insane!

**A/N: Nat would never do this but that's what Fan Fics are for am I right! I'm currently working on a chapter for 'Stark Raving Mad' so if your following keep watch over the weekend and if you're not you should be.**

"Romanoff, I need you." Fury interrupted the conversation the Avengers were having

Natasha stood to attention and followed him out of the room. As soon as they had left Tony hacked the Helicarrier and found which room they had went to, he brought up a live feed and ignored Steve's protests. When Fury started talking, they all gave up trying to stop Tony and watched the video.

THE VIDEO

_Fury turned his back on Natasha and said angrily "You lied on your report about Stark. I mean volatile? yes; arrogant? yes; doesn't play well with others true but 'Tony Stark not recommended'? I don't think so."_

"_Sir, Stark is completely insane."_

_Fury did a double take "Sure Stark's a little eccentric and he's got his quirks but-"_

"_Sir you don't understand! He's not eccentric, he's not quirky, he's not unique, he's not a misunderstood genius, he's insane!" Natasha really had to stress that point_

"_If he's so crazy why did your review leave his recruitment open ended?" Nick would never understand her_

"_Stark has no idea he's a total psychopath."_

"_Psychopath?" Fury was done "I guess you're just going to add homicidal on top of that too!"_

"_Depends on your definition of homicidal." Natasha deadpanned_

"_I'm not going to ask, just answer the original question." _

"_Stark doesn't think he's crazy, he doesn't want anyone to know he's crazy, he won't do anything too crazy so he fights the bad guys." Natasha hesitated slightly on the word fight_

"_You mean kill the bad guys." Natasha didn't answer which meant yes "So tell me Romanoff, what happens when we start looking like the bad guys?"_

_Natasha looked Fury in the eye and said in a monotone voice "We put him down."_

END OF VIDEO

On the other side Tony was staring at the screen with his mouth hanging open The others were glancing warily from Tony to each other. Just then Natasha and Fury walked back into the room, one look at the screen showing the room they had just been in and the tense tone of the occupants in the room they realised what had happened all Natasha could say was "Crap."

Tony turned towards Natasha "Completely insane?" his voice was an octave higher than usual "Homicidal psychopath?"

"Stark I-" Natasha had an answer, she had an excuse, an escape route.

"No! You know what! I'm done with SHIELD! I mean I'm not even an Avenger, even with a 'good' report I didn't even qualify. I'm out. Good Bye Director Fury." Tony stormed out of the room.

Bruce turned angrily towards Natasha his eyes glowing green "You were planning on putting Stark down when he was done with his usefulness?!" He yelled They all backed up at the sight of angry Bruce "I suppose you have a plan for when the Hulk becomes my dominant side; or when Steve goes all Red Skull on us; or when Thor and Asgard try to conquer us! I expected this from Fury, he has to think about these things, he has to keep some things secret, but you Natasha, you didn't even tell Fury!"

"Bruce I- I'm sorry." He simply left eh room taking deep breaths to calm himself "Guys?" she asked the Avengers. Steve and Thor didn't look at her they followed Bruce out the door. "Clint?" her voice cracked with emotion at the thought of Clint leaving her

"Natasha, I- I- I'm sorry Nat, I just can't right now." He lowered his gaze and left the room

"Oh okay." Natasha said weakly refusing to face Fury with the tear brewing in her eyes. "I'll just go to my room."

**A/N: I know Black Widow doesn't cry but she is only human after all. OOOOH maybe that should be the title of my next Short Fic**


	12. The Perfect Date (Pepperony)

**A/N: VALENTINE SPECIAL! PEPPERONYYYYYY!**

"You know what Tony, I can't deal with you today! I'm going to go and do some paper work don't disturb me." Pepper sauntered away in her heels and even though she sounds exactly like she usually does when dealing with Tony she was maaaad. Tony had not only forgotten Valentine's day but he had been locked up in the lab for 4 days without eating or sleeping and he had missed two board meetings, he hadn't even signed any of the documents she'd left for him. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered with Tony, nothing she did made a difference.

Tony realised that this wasn't their usual banter and rushed after Pepper stumbling slightly because of the lack of substances in his body "Pepper wait! Pepper!" as she walked out the door, Tony's lightly blurred vision caused him to misinterpret the distance and he hit his shoulder on the door frame and tripped over landing on the floor with an 'oof' Pepper didn't even look back as she walked professionally into the elevator with her files clutched to her chest.

Tony got up from the floor and sighed, he trekked into the Kitchen and made himself some black coffee gulping it down before it was cool and grimacing as he burnt his tongue. Then he had an idea "JARVIS I need you to do some stuff for me, I need you to get me some ..."

**LINE BREAK**

"Ms Potts, Sir requires your presence in the Lab." JARVIS called down from the ceiling in his British accent

"I'm busy JARVIS." She replied flatly still angry at Tony for his self-destructive behaviour

"It is of the upmost importance and urgency."

Pepper huffed "Fine, I'm coming."

Pepper stood up leaving her work on the desk and walked to the elevator, she got in and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited to be let out. When the elevator stopped she walked briskly to the Lab and typed in the code "Okay Tony, what exploded this-" She stopped and stared because instead of the usual mess or damage that came from Tony summoning her to the lab, a trail of red rose petals scattered on the floor let to a table set with a waaaaaay better version of her 'in-flight meal' and two glasses of champagne (No whiskey in sight) and French breadsticks "Tony what..." She trailed off still in shock

Tony was dressed in a black suit without a tie, he sent his award winning smile at Pepper and gestured towards her chair "Happy Valentine's day Ms Potts, I hope the meal is up to your standards."

She smiled back at him and sat in her chair "Why yes Mr Stark, it is satisfactory."

"Pepper I'm sorry, I know you worry about me but it's just a habit now, locking myself in the lab and not coming out, it's second nature."

"I know Tony, I've known you for 15 years I was a fool to think you would changed at the drop of a hat, but I don't want you to change I want you to be you, just eat some more."

"I'll try Pepper I really will, I love you."

"I love you too Tony."

The two spent the rest of the night eating, drinking and laughing. And it was the perfect date.

**A/N: I'm thinking of doing a few Valentine's fics for different ships seeing as I never did any Christmas themed stories even though I was totally planning too, but I only have 10 day and I procrastinate like hell.**


	13. The Whole World Watched

**A/N: BTW This story is just so that the general public can see for themselves that Tony Stark isn't a complete ass-hole. The title is alliteration. **

The camera, that was broadcasting to the whole world, focused on the bomb that was rushing towards them, the large crowd of civilians screamed in absolute terror as they saw the device that would end their lives. Captain America raced towards them in the hopes that he could deflect it with his shield but everyone could tell he wasn't going to make it. Thor and Hulk zoomed towards it hoping to intercept it before it exploded but they too were too far away. Clint and Natasha could only watch in slow motion as the bomb flew through the air towards the terrified crowd.

But then the whole world watched as Iron Man threw himself in front of the bomb and curled around it to keep the blast to a minimum.

The whole world watched as he was blasted backwards and landed on the ground roughly.

The whole world watched as he lay motionless on the floor.

The whole world watched as Natasha appeared next to him trying to tear the suit off him.

The whole world watched as the suit opened up groaning with protest and they saw Tony Stark, bleeding heavily from his abdomen.

They heard Black Widow scream for help as she tore some material from a mini first aid kit she had under her uniform. She wrapped it tightly around him and applied as much pressure but Tony Stark, the selfish, arrogant, playboy, billionaire, businessman was unresponsive. Tony Stark the selfless, confident, committed, philanthropist, hero was unresponsive.

And for the second time, the people realised that despite everything that's said about him Tony Stark wasn't a bad man, and Tony Stark did have a heart.

**A/N: OMG last week I watched the first three X Men movies as well as Days of Future Past and I'm half way though The Wolverine. And now I've got a fanfic in my head and I want to write it down but this one shot thing is already distracting me from my other stories I can't add another on top of that! But I'll write down the idea and when I finish a story it may crop up.**

**Word of the Day: 'Captivating' as in captivating their attention.**


	14. Five Minutes Till Valentines (Clintasha)

**A/N: It's been pointed out to me that I do A LOT of Tony stories so I'll try to ease up a bit and do the others.**

**I was gonna post this yesterday but experienced a 503 service crash it's okay now tho.**

"_Love is for children I owe him a dept"_

In her line of work getting close to people, having friends was dangerous. She only had two Coulson and Clint and Phil was dead now. In her line of work you couldn't afford to be in love, to have any emotions other than determined. Don't get me wrong she wasn't some unfeeling, emotionless robot, but she wasn't exactly a happy-go-lucky puppy dog either. She was simply there, she was SHIELD the big brother looking out for the world, saving people from the shadows and never claiming her reward. She laughed to herself at how ridiculous it would sound to any normal person, gosh she sounds like some comic book character like Batman or something.

She looked at her clock and saw it was _11:55_ PM almost Midnight,that means five minutes till Valentine's Day, she needed to go to sleep she had to wake up at 6:15. She sighed and got up, leaving the basically empty room and going into the bare bathroom to brush her teeth. She heard a sound behind her and swung round intending to use the tooth brush as a weapon but stopped dead to find Clint holding his hands up in surrender "Barton?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Hawkeye joked although he looked like tired and worn out.

"What's wrong? You look like absolute crap." Natasha, blunt as always

"Just I was thinking, it's almost Valentine's Day."

_11:56_

"Really Clint, you sneak into my room in the middle of the night to celebrate Valentine's Day? What's really going on here?"

"I had a nightmare; to be honest it was more of a flash back. I remembered something from when I was... you know." '_Mind raped by Loki' _The unspoken words

"Wanna talk about it?" Natasha asked concerned for her only friend

Clint shook his head "No just... just hold me for a while."

_11:57_

She smiled a very rare genuine smile and gestured to the door leading back to the room, he smiled back at her as they lay on her bed holding each other as if scared the other would disappear. They lay there for a minute.

_11:58_

And then Clint kissed the top of Natasha's head "Tasha you know I love you right."

"depends what kind of love."

"As a friend and as more."

"Clint, we can't-" Natasha started her voice pained

"I know, not in our line of business but just for today for now."

_11:59_

She looked up into his brown eyes and kissed him softly on the lips.

_12:00_

She pulled back and whispered "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day Nat."

**A/N: **_**Mild Winter Soldier Spoiler**_

**I just remembered something from Captain America the Winter Soldier. When Cap and Nat are looking at the photos of SHIELD's founders and she's like "That's Howard Stark but who's the girl" I refuse to believe that **_**ANY**_** S.H.I.E.L.D. agent especially Natasha Romanoff **_**THE**_** Black Widow doesn't know who Agent Peggy Carter is. Also did she not read Steve's files surely his thing with Peggy would have been in there I mean COME ON!**


	15. But Not His King

**A/N: It was Bobby. Y'all Eastenders fans know what I mean. I still can't believe it tho! I mean - OH MY GODS!**

_Blue_

_Flashing blue lights_

_Everywhere._

_Ocean Blue_

_Electric Blue_

_Frost Giant Blue_

_Tessaract Blue_

_And then there's the Green._

_It's a cold, forest green mixed in with gold and flashes of pale Caucasian skin, slick black hair, crazed eyes and manic laughs. Loki. King Loki. My King Loki._

_Loki is my king and I will obey him, I will end Director Fury's life I will protect Loki at all costs. But wait, wasn't I an Agent of SHIELD? Didn't I pledge my allegiance to Fury himself? What was I doing? Why am I aiming for his head. _I will not kill him. _I hit his leg instead._

_The building is crumpling. I must get Loki out of here so he can live to conquer Earth. Loki should be king, he should rule all of Midgard .And then-_

_Agent Hill is shooting at me. I thought we were allies, why is she shooting? Oh that's right I'm helping the enemy. But Loki's not the enemy, he's a King. Or at least he should be, that much I'm sure of. Or am I?_

_I'm in Germany. Why am I in Germany? "I need a distraction and an eyeball" I remember saying that. That must be why I'm in Germany. I hear the screams of a panicked crowd and then bingo! I'm in I have what we need. Now I go back to base and give this to Selvig, while Loki goes public and gets the mortals outside to recognise him as their King. He freezes, he hears Natasha's voice through some sort of megaphone, she was probably in a Quinjet. Her voice was muffled by the distance but definitely her. _Natasha. _A moment of clarity and then it's gone buried in the misty haze of Blue and Green once more. Then I'm with Selvig again handing him what I stole._

_Is that the helicarrier? My King wants me to take it down so he can escape. One tiny arrow and Fury's floating fortress will crash. Ready. Aim. Fire. Hit my mark, like I always do._

_Then I'm fighting Natasha. Why am I fighting Nat? She's my friend, my only friend. Clint, wake up! What's wrong with you. Then he hears Loki in his head_

I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you, slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work. And when he screams, I'll split his skull.

_Natasha! No! I won't kill you I won't! But he couldn't stop his body as he attacked her with a blade coming inches from her head. He wanted to scream, he thought he had but it never left his mouth and then Darkness._

He came to strapped to a bed with Natasha beside him, comforting him.

Then the battle of Manhattan.

Fighting Aliens.

Tony almost dying by flying a nuke into space.

Then standing over Loki as a team, arrow notched and aimed at his face.

Then the shwarma.

And then he snapped.

He sat in a white straight jacket surrounded by white, padded walls with no windows and the barest hint of a door, it would open three times a day sometimes four if Natasha visited. He sat muttering incoherently to himself. He was trapped in his head. A prisoner to his own mind and this time precognitive calibration won't bring him back. He had been unmade. He was gone lost between the Blue and the Green and the red of blood as he killed innocents in the name of his king. But not his King.

**A/N: This killed me. TBH I wasn't sure if this worked they way I had hoped it would but oh well. It's a throw up between calling it Blue or But not his King. I'll think I'll go with But not his King.**


	16. Only Human

**A/N: So in the bottom Author's Note in 'Sir, He's Completely Insane!' I said I should write a fan fic about Nat being only human and I know I dragged Clint into this too but Clintasha is my OTP who can blame me.**

_It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out._

___Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakoff's daughter, Sao Paulo, the hospital fire. Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basis of sentimentality. This is a child's prayer, pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you and they will never go away. I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you, slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work. And when he screams, I'll split his skull._

She woke in a cold sweat. She was no stranger to nightmares after all she had been a trained assassin since she was a child, what could you expect. But her nightmares didn't usually bother her as much as this one, it was recurring and it seemed every time she dreamed it, it got worse. Once she had woken up screaming and had found herself face to face with Clint while Steve, Bruce and Tony stood at the doorway awkwardly. "Nat? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Clint rushed worriedly, it wasn't often that Black Widow woke up screaming despite all the nightmares

"uuh. Yeah Clint I'm fine. Sorry for waking you guys." She looked at her clock it was 2AM. She wondered if Tony had already been awake tinkering in the lab or if she had interrupted one of the few times the billionaire decided to sleep. She waved them out of her room and after second everyone but Clint left bidding her and each other a good night.

"Tasha." Clint knew something wasn't right and with that one word he managed to get Natasha to give up the information

"I just had a nightmare."

"About?"

"Loki. When he was on the helicarrier we talked he said some stuff. It got to me."

"What did he say?"

"Clint." She warned "I don't want to talk about it."

"Please Natasha. You know you can tell me anything." Clint pleaded

"I know, I just don't- I can't-I mean-uug!" It was rare the smooth talking red head was at a loss of words

"Pleeeeeaaaaase!?" Clint dragged it out sounding slightly like a bratty child

Natasha knew from experience that he would stay there for hours before he gave up so with a huff and a slump of her shoulders she gave in "Fine!" She moved over and made space for Clint to lie down next to her. When they were both comfortably lying on her bed she sighed again "Loki said that I was a liar and a killer in the service of liars and killers, and I must admit that part's true but he also said some other stuff and he said... he said that he would make you kill me in his exact words 'Slowly, intimately in every way you know I fear' and then he'd wake you up and when you screamed he'd split your skull."

"I have no qualms of death Clint. I've been the in the business not to fear the afterlife, not that I'll go looking to die, I mean I'm not Stark. But the thought of you killing me Clint," Her voice switched to a whisper "I couldn't stand it."

"Natasha, I had a limited amount of control over myself when Loki took over. I think if I reframed from killing Fury I wouldn't kill you. But Natasha it's okay to be scared, you're only human."

"What about you? You haven't even been to therapy and Loki was in your mind. Maybe I should be telling you the same thing. You're only human and on a team full of Super Soldiers, Gamma experiments gone wrong and Norse gods we need to except that, otherwise we could push ourselves too far."

"For the first time ever, we're expandable. Agent may or Hill or Ward or any other field agent or specialist could replace us on this team! Even Stark isn't replaceable and he's nothing but a walking brain without his suits. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's intimidating."

"Well we're only human. There's not much we can do."


	17. Titanium Ironman Edition

**A/N: This is a silly one but I couldn't help myself. Anything in **_italics_** is what he's singing. If you don't know the song Titanium by David Quetta I suggest you listen to it first.**

The Avengers came down to the lab to drag him out to eat sleep and wash by order of Pepper while she was away on a business trip, knowing how stubborn the genius was they had agreed to go down together and use physical force if necessary. As they approached the lab they hard music that sound suspiciously like Titanium by David Guetta "I thought Stark only listened to AC/DC and Black Sabbeth ect." Said Clint

Natasha grinned for the first time in forever as she got a look at Tony, he was dancing around in the arms of the suit while another suit mimicked him while singing. Without a word Clint got out his phone and started filming while the others laughed silently.

_You shout so loud_

_That I come back from the dead_

_You're roaring loud, saying "Puny god"_

_You criticize but all your comments ricochet_

_You shoot me down, but I get up_

_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose  
I fly away, I fly away  
Extremist you are A.I.M.  
I fly away, I fly away  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium-steel alloy  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium-steel alloy_

_We fly up high  
But it's you who'll have further to fall  
Obadiah and the Ten Rings  
Raise your voice, bullets and missiles may break my bones  
I'm talking loud not saying much_

_I'm bulletproof, my life to lose  
I fly away, I fly away  
Extremist, you are A.I.M.  
I fly away, I fly away  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium steel alloy  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium steel alloy  
I am titanium steel alloy  
I am titanium steel alloy_

_Metal heart, repulser guns  
Firing at evil villains  
Metal heart like capsicle's shield_

_You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium steel alloy  
You shoot me down but I won't fall  
I am titanium steel alloy  
You shoot me down _but. I. Won't_...  
_  
"Oh hey guys. How long have you been standing there? Legolas are you filming me? Barton? Clint!" He lunged at the archer and the video shut off.

It was all over the Internet and had a million views in the first five minutes. Many vines were made and SHIELD had somehow made it impossible to be deleted from the internet, not that it mattered too many copies had been made for it to make a difference.


	18. The Sacrifice Play

"GRENADE! GET DOWN!" Someone shouted

Steve was about to jump on the grenade like ha had all those years ago but then he froze. The first time he had jumped on the grenade it had been a test, it wasn't real and he had been awarded with the super serum. The second time he had only metaphorically jumped on the grenade, he had crashed the plane and save millions of lives but he had lost everything and everyone who meant anything to him, he had been basically dead, thawing out in a block of ice in some barren wasteland. It was by pure luck they had even found him.

He was the little guy. He was the guy who laid down his life on the wire, that's what he had told Stark so why is it that when he was need to jump on the Grenade one last time, he froze.

'_Just do it'_ he willed himself and just as he was about to when an unarmoured Tony Stark ran past him noticing his hesitation and jumped on the grenade. Steve sucked in his breath and his eyes widened as he waited for the inevitable "Stark!" he screamed

And then he was thrown back by the force of the explosion even with his shield... his shield. His shield which was made of indestructible metal. His shield with its round curved shape that would be perfect for trapping blasts like the one that had just occurred. He could have just held his shield over it. It didn't even have to be him. It didn't have to be Tony.

When everyone asked him what had happened afterwards in the silent mournful debriefing all he could choke out was "I couldn't jump on the grenade." And now he would never get to tell Tony how sorry he was for judging him back on the helicarrier. He got up and walked out of the room, he couldn't stand being here. His eyes burned with tears he didn't want to be seen crying but he lost it when he bumped straight into Pepper.

"Ms Potts... I.." And then the tears started streaming down his face. It was his fault Tony had died and now Pepper was alone, she would hate him. He swallowed thickly and then moved around her making it to a SHIELD bathroom and sliding to the floor his head in his hands.

"I couldn't jump on the Grenade."

'_I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you'_

That's what he had said. And as it turned out he had gotten them mixed up but he would never get the chance to tell him.

'_...You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero'_

He was wrong. He wanted to scream in agony and laugh at the irony. He wanted to rash the small toilet he was in and he wanted to go back to his house in Brooklyn 1940's lay down and cry, he wanted Bucky to come and comfort him, he wanted Tony to still be alive.

But the world is not a wish granting factory, people didn't often get what they wanted.

He uttered one last time "I couldn't Jump on the Grenade."


	19. My Dad Never Lies

**A/N: BTW this is Tony's POV. Do any of you have any suggestions of prompts or even a challenge? Just put them in the reviews or PM me.**

My dad never lies

He said that Steve was still alive, he said they would find him and they did.

He said Steve was a hero by saving everyone by sacrificing himself and he was.

He said Jarvis was unshakeable changing from normal butler to super spy's sidekick in a matter of seconds. He was.

He said Peggy was amazing, kind, smart, brilliant in every way as well as tough. She was.

He said he was a genius, he was the future the way the world would move forward, the way the world would evolve. He was.

He said I could never be a hero. I can't.

He said I was worthless. I am.

He said I wasn't his son and he shouldn't have to deal with me. I wasn't.

He said his son died crashing a plane in the Arctic.

He said I could never be like him, that I was nothing. I can't.

He said I should shut up and do I'm told. I did, I don't anymore.

The only time my dad's ever lied was when he said "Maybe you're not as big of a disappointment as I thought you were." the day I graduated MIT a few years earlier than anyone else. Because I'm a huge disappointment, I could never make him proud.


	20. I'm Not Going Anywhere

_READ THE A/N unless you haven't watched Thor the Dark World in which case the story makes less sense but still sense._

**A/N: Okay so this is set after Thor the dark World **SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER: **after Thor thinks Loki is dead and Frigga was killed. But pretend that scene where Loki is in the throne never happened so Loki is just wandering the nine realms staying hidden until one day he ends up in Midgard and SHIELD calls the Avengers. Loki is suffering from some sort of meld of PTSD, hallucinations, schizophrenia and depression .**

"_Loki, you should be nice to your brother, I'm sure he meant well." _The voice of Frigga echoed in his head

"He is trying to arrest me so I can spend the rest of my days rotting in a cell! Is that what you want for me?!"

"_Of course not Loki, but I don't want my sons fighting."_

"I'M NOT YOUR SON!" Loki yelled at himself

The Avengers exchanged glances, what the heck was going on, Loki was talking to himself. Thor stepped forward placing his hammer on his belt loop and holding out his hands surrenderingly "Brother-"

"I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER YOU DULL CREATURE! WHEN WILL YOU UNDERSTAND!"

Thor looked away before approaching again "Loki, please. Stop this now and we can help you."

"Help me? Why would the mighty Thor, son of Odin want to help a monster?"

"Broth-Loki, you are not a monster." He stopped himself from saying 'you are also a son of Odin' knowing it would set him off again "Loki please tell me what is wrong?"

"She's everywhere." Loki said vaguely his eyes darting around crazily

"_It's your fault." _Frigga hissed, the usually calm and noble voice as venomous as a snake

"Who's everywhere?" Thor looked around not seeing anyone besides Iron man hovering behind him repulsor rays aimed and the Quinjet flown by Clint and armed by Natasha and Steve, Bruce was there too but he was just watching. Loki's hands flew to his head as if stressed and started tugging at it

"_I'm dead because of you!" _

"Stop it."

"_You're worthless!"_

"Stop it!"

"_You couldn't even take over Midgard, all you had to do was defeat a few mortals."_

"Shut up!"

"_You're a monster. The name Laufeyson suits you well."_

"Mother!" Loki's eyes widened at her words

"_You were right before. You Loki Laufeyson are not my son. You're too pathetic."_

Thor frowned "You see mother? You mean Frigga?"

Loki's head snapped back to Thor "Do you not see her? Do you not her her taunting me? She's everywhere!" He started to tug more harshly at his hair and his eyes had unfocused "She's everywhere..."

Thor realised what was happening "Loki... she's not here. She's... she's dead."

"I know! I know because it's my fault! I'm the reason she's dead!"

Thor came closer trying not to startle the obviously mentally ill Loki "Loki who told you that?"

"She did."

"She's in your head. She wouldn't think that. She loved you." Thor tried to reason

"But," His voice dropped to a whisper but despite the roaring wind and the thunder crackling around them, Thor heard "How could she love a monster?"

As soon as Thor heard that his eyes started watering "Oh brother..." He rushed forward and embrace him "You're not a monster. The Frigga you see and hear right now isn't real, she would never say such terrible untruths. We will get rid of her, SHIELD will help you." He said the last part looking directly into Clint's eyes and to his delight Clint nodded understanding and agreeing.

"We'll get rid of her?" Loki asked looking hopefully up into his big brother's eyes in a way he hadn't done for centuries

Thor nodded smiling down at his younger brother glad that he would finally come home. Because home was not Asgard or the palace, no, home was with him.

But over Thor's shoulder smiling grotesquely was the ghost of Frigga, she said very sternly spinning her dagger in her hand and looked Loki directly in the eye "I'm not going anywhere."

**A/N: I bet you thought it was going to be a team bonding thing from the title didn't you? HA! I showed you! This made me kinda sad cuz Loki is just so and this is just like and UUUUURG.**

**Do ya get me? Course you do, I spoke perfect English.**


	21. No Touchy

**A/N: Okay so imagine Tony has PTSD and doesn't like people touching him at all cause it gives him flash backs and panic attacks but the Avengers don't know this.**

**STEVE**

"Stark wait!" Steve reached out and grabbed his shoulder and was shocked when Tony flinched backwards yanking his arm away from Steve and looking at him bewildered until he realised what was going on. Tony looked at him recognition seeping in and then he just left. No explanation, no nothing. He just got up and left.

**THOR**  
"That is most joyous man of Iron!" Thor congratulated Tony with a hard smack on the back that made the shorter man stumble. As he tried to find his footing Thor realised he had knocked him off balance and grabbed his shoulders in an attempt to steady him and was taken aback when Tony spun around and his eyes held no sign of even knowing Thor he looked panicked and then as Thor asked cautiously "Stark?" Tony snapped out of it and shook it off with a forced laugh and a witty joke which Thor didn't understand.

**BRUCE**  
"Here wear some goggles." Bruce held out some safety goggles and waited for Stark to take them  
Tony looked at the goggles then at Bruce and cocked his head slightly apologetic "I'm sorry I don't like being handed things, just put it on the table."  
Bruce raised an eyebrow but didn't question it as he placed the goggles on the table, little did they know Clint was watching from the air vents.

**CLINT AND NATASHA**  
Clint and Natasha watched curiously as Tony Stark worked through masses upon masses of Tony Stark/Iron Man fangirls and paparazzi and did so without letting a single person touch him. He weaved through the crowd with casual fluid movements that didn't seem suspicious to anyone except the super spies. Clint asked impressed "How is he doing that? I mean you couldn't even get through that crowd without being touched and you're _you_!"

"I'm not sure. But I want to see what happens when someone touches him."

"And how do you plan to do that? It's not like you can go in there if you got close enough you'd have like 40 cameras on you."

"Please Clint, don't underestimate me." She dropped down from where they were perched and smiled when she had confirmed no one had seen her. She subconsciously checked her main gun was tucked into the back of her blue jeans hidden safely under her baggy black shirt As she walked casually towards Tony she placed some tinted shades over her eyes and ducked under a few cameras.

She reached out to touch Tony's shoulder thinking she was completely undetectable and was shocked when Tony dodged away at the last moment and said to no one in particular "Seriously. Don't even try it. No touchy." But she knew he was talking to her.

**A/N: Check out my fic 'Corrupted to the Core' because it literally has 20 views and no faves/followers.**

**I read my first Avengers Graphic Novel and IT WAS AMAZING!**


	22. Silently Suffering

**A/N: This is a short exctarct from chapter 8 of my Avengers fic Double Crossed if you haven't already you should check it out. Chapter seven has a plot twist so yh. Im hoping you'll be curious now and go find it.  
**

He couldn't even remember how many times Pepper or JARVIS or one of the bots and more recently Bruce, Natasha or Clint have pulled him out of a flashback or woken him from a nightmare. Everyone says he should get help or talk to one of them but he can't. The moment he goes to a shrink the board and the government will say he can't be In charge of the company/Iron Man any more. If he tells his friends, they'll think he's weak and they'll know just how messed up in the head he really is. So he kept it inside and suffered silently.

**A/N: This must be the shortest one I've ever done**


	23. Sanctuary

**A/N: does anyone know a reason why Steve would slap Tony in the face during an argument about Tony's inability to be handed things? Because I have the scene before I have the scenes after I just need the fight leading up to it. It's for my fic 'Tony Stark doesn't like to be Handed Things'**

This was home. This was his sanctuary.

His large tower in the centre of New York with his name etched onto the side alight with clean energy.

His main lab was here, the bots were here, his cars were here. He made the second arc reactor here. He created Starkanium here. He met Ms Pepper Potts here.

This tower with its towering walls of glass window panes and metal panels all controlled by the watchful eye of JARVIS protected him from any unwanted predators. Paparazzi couldn't get in without his consent and he'd never (not even on his drunkest days) let them in.

It kept him inside and everyone else out.

It held him together, reminding him that he wasn't a failure, that he hadn't disappointed his father, that he hadn't disappointed Yinsen, he hadn't wasted his life.

Throughout his whole life he's never been sure anything would remain a constant in his life. His parents died age 17; the original human Jarvis died; Aunt Peggy has dementia, she thinks he's Howard; Obadiah Stane tried to kill him; it was only a matter of time before Pepper and Rhodey left too but one thing that had always been there? This tower.

His father had built it from the ground, every year advancing it, adding new tech. Then Howard died and Obadiah became acting CEO and the evolution of technology leapt forward in bounds and leaps. And then Tony Stark, Iron man himself took over and this tower wasn't just a work place. It wasn't just metal and stone, it wasn't just bricks and tech. It was his heart and soul, it was his passion, his one true love, his only constant in a world full of inconstants, it was his home. It was his sanctuary.

**A/N: So... no more Arrow, no more Agents of SHIELD and no more Gotham (till the next seasons) and today is the last episode of the Flash.**

**At least they're all getting another season (I'm not actually sure about Gotham but the other three are) as well as Daredevil and Agent Carter getting a season 2 also Super girl the TV show and Legends of Tomorrow. They both seem pretty epic although whoever made the Super girl trailer should be fired.**


	24. Gets That From

_**Summery: Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it, where do you think he gets that from? Tony Stark finds out.**_

**A/N: I've had writers block for a while plus I'm super busy with school. For those waiting on other stories I've got chapters in the works.**

Tony sat in his lab surrounded by two destroyed suits and broken parts of the Hulkbuster. His usually neat goatee had grown out into a normal beard and his hair was a mess "Run it again JARVIS."

"Error, there is no reason why Ultron should have woken up."

Tony sighed for what must have been the 200th time "Run it again."

"Error there is no rea-"

"Run it again!"

"I'm sorry Sir but according to my programming there is no reason Ultron should have awakened."

Tony slumped further into his chair "Well then why didn't Ultron listen to me? I know I told him to save the world but his programming says to protect the people. How did he break his programming?"

"Error there is no reason why-"

"RRRRRRRR!" Stark leapt up and swept things off the table in a rage "Dammit JARVIS! There must be a reason! Scan for signs of magic."

"Loki's magic or Thor's magic?"

"Loki's."

There was a paused and JARVIS ran the figures and matched the energy waves of Ultron to the energy waves Loki had given off while on Earth "There is no trace of Loki's magic."

"Well then scan for Thor."

"No sign of Thor's mag-"

"Well then scan Vision! Scan Wanda! Scan whatever crazy energy Pietro gave off! Just scan everything until you find a match!"

"Sir if I may..."

"What is it JARVIS."

"The only energy it matches is yours."

Tony stopped moving and stood staring at the wall "What?"

"I scanned your brain waves with Ultron's well not brain waves but close enough and they match up."

Tony seemed to have a moment of clarity "Of course! The only way a machine could be that unpredictable and break programming is if it were designed by and to be like someone who was just as unpredictable and liked to break social expectations! The reason Ultron failed was because he was based off of me! But that still doesn't explain why Ultron came to life, me and Bruce were nowhere near turning him on."


	25. I Can't Believe He Hacked The Internet

**A/N: It's been a while since I added a story to here! So yeah here's a short fic! This has been on my mind for a while I was actually thinking of making into like a miniseries of all the times The Avengers (mainly Tony) get interrupted during interviews on TV I have another one called Helicarrier Down which you can find on my page!**

Tony and the Avengers sat on the Conan couch watching the new Deadpool trailer, the first high def version since Comic Con. It had just ended and the Avengers were falling about laughing at the "I'm touching myself tonight!" part. "Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool! I don't care if that Green Lantern movie was crap this will be awesome!" Tony wiped a tear of laughter from his eye with his index finger and let out a content sigh as he finally caught his breath.

Conan laughed as well "Yeah, and that part where he was like 'Don't make my suit green!'"

Clint, Tony and Conan said in chorus "Or animated!" and fell about laughing all over again.

Steve was beat red because of all the swearing and references to sex and masturbation in the trailer but what did he expect it _was_ a red band trailer.

Natasha was laughing silently at Steve's reaction and Thor was clapping loudly at the mighty Deadpool's valour and ferocity in battle.

The crowd cheered having been waiting for that damned trailer to drop for what felt like decades.

Just then Fury stepped onto the stage a few crew guys were trying to stop him but one glare and they gave up and just let him past "Stark." He spoke loudly and clearly so he could be heard over the applaud but not loud enough to be classified as yelling

"Fury! What are you doing here? You're always ruining my interviews."

"I need you to hack the internet."

"What site or server?"

"The internet."

Tony stared at him for a second as the crowd died down "The internet? As in just the whole internet? Not like a specific website or company?"

"The internet." He repeated for the second time

"mmmhhhm. And why can't SHIELD do this?"

Fury pursed his lips "The SHIELD tech department is good but none of them can hack the whole internet."

"Is it for national security?"

"It always is."

They locked eyes for a moment challenging each other then Stark looked away a brought out his Phone "JARVIS bring up the contract." A blue hologram of a contract shone from his phone "This is the normal contract stating that I helped you, you owe me and that you have to tell me what this was for ASAP." Fury sighed it. "Okay good! Avengers does everyone have their special Stark pones on them?"

Natasha raised a brow "You mean the ones you said were prototypes and could explode at any moment?"

"Those are the ones!"

"Yeah." She reached into her pocket and brought out a phone, the other Avengers did the same and handed them to Tony.

He grinned and said dramatically "JARVIS! Do the thing!" Blue holograms came out of all of them and joined together to create a giant holographic laptop he started typing, hacking into the Internet itself zooming past Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Youtube and Twitter "let's just hope this doesn't explode." Almost as if he'd jinxed himself the phone Thor had claimed started to spark "Dammit. "JARVIS disconnect the semi-exploding phone. Steve can you just place that under your shield please."

It disconnected immediately and Steve dived forward placing the shield over the phone just as it exploded, there was a load banging sound and Steve was thrown back but the explosion had been contained successfully.

"Thank you for that!" He told Steve distractedly "Okay Fury I'm in!"

Clint shook his head "I can't believe you hacked the internet."

**A/N: BTW I have like five unfinished rough around the edges Short Fics that I kind of forgot about till now but I'll try and fix them up and get them out there. BTW it's the Summer Holidays where I am so YAY!**


	26. My Girl FRIDAY

**A/N: This is technically a prequel to my last short fic in the previous chapter but like all of them can be read as a stand alone. Review, Favourite and Follow!**

Stark sat tinkering in his lab working on some proto-type Stark phones to run by R and D so he'd have something to present at the Board meeting and so Pepper wouldn't make him sleep on the sofa again.

A thought occurred to Tony, the only people with phones were Natasha, Clint and himself and the two assassins tended to only use SHIELD communications as there is no one who would be calling them. Bruce never used to have a phone because they can be tracked but upon moving to Stark Tower agreed to haul around a Nokia Brick despite the fact that he could easily make his own phones untraceable. The two out-of-touch blonds were still trying to figure out his electric oven and his microwave but at least Thor hadn't broken the toaster in a while. Anyway back to the thought: Tony's brilliant idea was that he should make 6 Avengers only phones that had JARVIS on them as well as being strong enough to withstand Thor and gun shots, they needed to have reception everywhere short of the moon and they had to be waterproof, they had to have unlimited space as well as holes for headphones, USB Cards, SD Cards and any other card (and of course a charger). It would be hard but he was determined to do it although he'd have to make a seventh slightly downgraded on that had F.R.I.D.A.Y. instead of JARVIS.

He brought up holograms testing different compounds and alloys to find the best mixture of metals (Even though a compound can't be a mixture). In the end he decided that it would be steel (Iron and carbon) for strength, silver so it wouldn't react with things or rust. Each plug and socket on the phone had a copper cover on it that could be opened and closed as well was specially made Stark glass with custom made apple gorilla glass screen savers. Yes even Stark Industries went to Apple for phone stuff although they hated to.

"Sir. Those phones aren't 100% stable." JARVIS informed his creator

"What are the chances they'll explode?" Tony asked whilst installing JARVIS into 6 of the phones and FRIDAY into the other

"4 in 80 chance. Also I must request that you refrain from using FRIDAY in that phone and instead opt for HELEN."

Tony sighed "4 out of 80... that's pretty high. Also Why HELEN and not FRIDAY?"

"This may sound odd seeing as I'm a disembodied AI but I have a hunch that you will need FRIDAY some time in the near future."

"That is odd. I didn't program you with hunches but okay. HELEN it is. I suppose it's for the best I mean she wouldn't be My Girl FRIDAY if I gave her to the board."

LINE BREAK

Stark came rushing into the kitchen with a white box in his arms "AVENGERS! ASSEMBLE! Daddy has presents!"

They all sighed and rolled their eyes at each other Clint grinned "What is it this time Stark? Stretchy Hulk pants? A magnet that can move Mjinor? Boomerang arrows? Remind me again why you though that was a good idea?"

"Because Boomerangs. Anyway it's none of those things but I'm still working on those Hulk pants." He reached into the box and pulled out a smart phone "I made each of you personalised, easy-to-use, super secure, water proof, tougher than most Stark phones complete with JARVIS as your personal AI!" He shoved a phone into each Avengers hands grinning like a child.

Steve smiled weakly and put the phone on the table "Thanks Tony, really... but you didn't have to do this for me. I don't even know how to use-"

"You're in Brookland and hydra attacks, you have no way to contact us. What do you do."

"I uh- I fight them."

Tony slammed his hand on the table and went to fake business-man Mr Stark mode"And innocent lives are at stake! Homes and businesses destroyed by those fiends! How would you feel knowing it could have been avoided by simply saying 'hey JARVIS call the Avengers' or even the fan favourite 'Avengers Assemble!'?"

Steve's mouth flapped like a fish "Well... I um.. I wouldn't feel very good."

Tony grinned again dropping his pseudo serious act "Well if not for yourself, take this phone for the good of America!"

Steve gingerly picked up the phone from where he'd placed it on the table as if it might explode (Which it could but he didn't know that)

During this exchange everyone else had been testing out their phones. Clint and Natasha had both tried to hack Bruce's phone and failed, Clint tried tracking Bruce but even though they were no more than 2 metres away from each other Bruce didn't show up on the radar. Natasha nodded impressed "The security on these things are good."

Stark gave her a shit-eating grin "And with that statement in mind I would like to draw our memories back to the contracts we signed when you moved in here. You have to model SI stuff if I give you anything and I and SI can not be held accountable if you die from one of my inventions."

"Stark." Natasha demanded the full truth in that one word

"They're proto-types... they could explode." There was a paused "But you're expected to carry them around 24/7 soooo..."

The all sighed again.

**A/N: BTW FRIDAY is The AI Stark uses after JARVIS becomes Vision. It is a reference to an old movie Girl Friday. Girl Friday has come to mean: ****a female assistant, especially a junior office worker.**** You can understand why FRIDAY is called FRIDAY now right.**


	27. Hello (Inspired by Adele)

_**LISTEN TO HELLO BY ADELE FIRST. IT MAKES IT BETTER ALTHOUGH IS NOT NECESSARY.**_

**A/N: This is technically set in the Comic-Verse but you don't have to have read the comics to understand it. However it does have spoilers for 'Civil War' the comic and 'The Death of Captain America'.**

_**LISTEN TO HELLO BY ADELE FIRST. IT MAKES IT BETTER ALTHOUGH IS NOT NECESSARY.**_

**TONY STARK/IRONMAN POV**

"Hello. It's me." I whispered quietly as I stared at the unmoving face of Steve Rogers. He lay peacefully in his tomb, his hands covering the place in which both Sharon Carter and the so called 'Crossbones' had shot him.

_I was wondering if after all these years  
You'd like to meet, to go over everything  
They say that time's supposed to heal ya  
But I ain't done much healing _

Why did Doctor Faustas have to brainwash Sharon. She must feel terrible, I mean she loved him. Then again this is partly my fault. After all this was part of the aftermath of the Civil War. The Civil War which I led, the War I stared.

_Hello, can you hear me?  
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be  
When we were younger and free  
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet _

We used to be a team and then some dumb kids made a mistake on TV and killed a bunch of kids and broke the camels back. Goliath and Cap had to pay the price for their idiocracy.

_There's such a difference between us  
And a million miles _

Iron Man VS Captain America. Shady warmongering business man in a fancy iron suit VS living legend who lives up to his legend, the symbol of hope and freedom, the embodiment of everything that America stood for. Me VS my best friend.

_Hello from the other side  
I must've called a thousand times to tell you  
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done  
But when I call you never seem to be home _

I wondered if Steve was looking down at us from heaven. Was he happy now? Was he safe? Was he amongst all his fallen friends from WW2?

_Hello from the outside  
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you  
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart  
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore _

Tears started forming in my eyes. DAMMIT! I told him! I warned him to give up! If he had just listened to me sooner then this wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't of been too distracted to notice Dr Faustus or any other villains running amock. I'm sorry Steve. You probably died thinking I hated you. At least I can't hurt you anymore.

_Hello, how are you?  
It's so typical of me to talk about myself  
I'm sorry, I hope that you're well  
Did you ever make it out of that town  
Where nothing ever happened? _

I wish I could see him just one more time. Sometimes I'd sit up in my tower and wait for him to call me or I'd be at the Avengers headquarters and expect him to scowl me for slacking off. I'm talking about myself again. Typical. I hope he's okay.

_It's no secret  
That the both of us are running out of time _

I'm getting older. One of these days a villains gonna get lucky and shoot me out of the sky and JARVIIS or FRIDAY or one of my other AI's won't be able to save me. And when that day comes I don't know if I'll end up in heaven with you or burning in hell with the rest of them. I've done a lot of bad things in my life and I was never a religious man.

_Hello from the outside  
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you  
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart  
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore _

I'm sorry Steve. I'm so so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like I didn't. I just wanted to protect everyone. Put the civilians at ease whilst also letting superheroes be superheroes. At least I can't hurt you anymore.

_So, hello from the other side  
I must've called a thousand times to tell you  
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done  
But when I call you never seem to be home _

The tears that had built up in my eyes earlier finally spilt over and ran down my cheeks. I'm sure there's a camera somewhere watching me slowly break down as I stare at my best friend's dead body. The over whelming sensation to just grab Steve by the shoulders and just yell at him until he woke up over came me but I resisted the urge. I couldn't make a scene.

_Hello from the other side  
I must've called a thousand times to tell you  
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done  
But when I call you never seem to be home _

I wish we could go back to how things were before. Before those inexperienced superheroes got a TV show and fought big villains for ratings. Before they lost that fight and destroyed not only a park and a school full of children but the whole surrounding neighbourhood. Before Director Hill thought it would be a good idea to antagonise and then attack Steve Rogers instead of letting me talk to him first. Maybe if I had gotten there first it would have worked out.

_Hello from the outside  
At least I can say that I've tried to tell you  
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart  
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore _

I broke down crying. Sobbing loudly. That was when photographers starting leaping out of bushes trying to get the best angles for the front cover of Vanity Fair or The Daily Bugle or the leading story photo for FOX news. Pepper was by his side in seconds, hugging me close to her and whispering in my ear. That made me cry harder and I sank to my knees by expensive suit being ruined by the grass and mud but I didn't care.

My best friend was dead. Half the superhero community hated me. I still didn't have the public's full trust. Sharon was broken. Falcon was off on a missing person's case for the second time that year only this time instead of Te Winter Soldier he was looking for Captain America's killers. Natasha Romanoff and Bucky Barnes had disappeared of the radar's, as far as I could figure out they were travelling together. Crime was running rampant with all the heroes distracted. It was a disaster. And all because of Me.

**A/N: This was inspired by the new Adele song 'Hello' if you haven't already go listen to it, and check out the Nightcore version too.**


	28. Runnin' (Inspired by Adam Lambert)

**A/N: Runnin' by Adam Lambert was my inspiration for this fic as well as the **_italic_** paragraphs in this. I advise you listen to it quickly before you read this fic it's a good song so you should listen to it anyway. If you're impatient watch the fast version by typing in Nightcore afterwards.**

_Steel to my tremblin' lips_

_How did the night ever get like this?_

_One shot and the whiskey goes down, down, down_

_Bottom of the bottle hits_

_Waking up my mind as I throw a fit_

_The breakin' is takin' me down, down, down_

Tony Stark sat on the floor behind the bar slumped against the strong wood.

He had a bottle of whiskey in his hand and there were two empty ones by his side that he had just finished draining of their content.

He heard Pepper's shoes on the hard floor and held his breath hoping she wouldn't look behind the bar

"Tony? Tony? The Avengers are looking for you! You missed the meeting. Fury's mad." She sighed "Hiding won't help."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he heard her leave in the lift.

_My heart's beating faster_

_I know what I'm after_

Tony looked out the window and out at New York. His city. A city that hated him and probably wanted him dead.

Well maybe he should give them what they want.

It's not like he hadn't thought about it often enough.

It's not like it wasn't what Tony wanted too.

His heart started racing at the thought.

_I've been standing here my whole life_

_Everything I've seen twice_

_Now it's time I realized_

_It's spinning back around now_

_On this road I'm crawlin'_

_Save me 'cause I'm fallin'_

_Now I can't seem to breathe right_

He stood up slowly bringing his half empty bottle of whiskey with him and peeped over the side of the bar to make sure no one was there.

He groaned as the movement jolted his head and aggravated his hangover head ache. He swallowed down the urge to puke and stumbled to the lift,

pressing the button for the roof.

_'Cause I keep runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' from my heart_

Halfway up he realised he would have to pass through the Avengers penthouse and they would notice him seeing as there were two highly trained spies on the team.

He sighed and got out on the 85th floor and starting running up the stairs to the roof trying to be as silent as possible.

By the time he got to the 87th floor he was exhausted and his head was killing him. But he walked the 88th flight and then run to number 90.

Tony sighed as he looked at the map of the building and saw he still had 10 floors to climb. he sighed and decided he would run up every other flight of stairs.

He run up 92, 94, 96, 98 and 100.

_'Round and around I go_

_Addicted to the numb livin' in the cold_

_The higher, the lower, the down, down, down_

_Sick of being tired and sick_

_And ready for another kind of fix_

_The damage is damning me down, down, down_

He stared out at the city once again spinning around trying to look at everything before he did what he was planning to do.

The cold wind numbed him to to bone but he liked it. It helped him to forget.

Forget Afghanistan and the torture;

forget his father's negligence and his mothers drunken tendencies;

forget the harsh judgement from everyone;

forget that without his iron suits and his money he was nothing.

_My heart's beating faster_

_I know what I'm after_

Tony breathed in the polluted city air and couldn't help but smile and think 'home'.

His heart raced and a nauseous feeling over took him

'That's the fight or flight kicking in' he told himself 'the adrenaline is pushing all the blood from my stomach and making me feel sick'

He didn't blame his terrible state of mind or the large amounts of alcohol he had consumed. He blamed science for that.

_I've been standing here my whole life_

_Everything I've seen twice_

_Now it's time I realized_

_It's spinning back around now_

_On this road I'm crawlin'_

_Save me 'cause I'm fallin'_

_Now I can't seem to breathe right_

He realised that since the first suicide attempt at age 10 he had basically been standing with one foot off the ledge his whole life

there was bound to come a time when he would jump.

He looked out at the city and realised that in his life he had been everywhere.

He had been to Harlem after The Hulk and the Abomination had had their lovers spat.

He had checked out Hell's Kitchen when he heard that two superheroes; a vigilante named Daredevil and a private investigator called Jessica Jones were operating there.

He had been to the Empire State building and The Baxter building and even The Oscorp tower.

He had been to crappy shawarma joints and shitty burger places.

He had held press conferences, ruined lives, made deals, sold weapons in New York.

And he'd done it all twice.

Tony took a few steps towards the edge and looked down at the streets. At the tiny New Yorkers who looked liked ants he could squash beneath his feet.

Was this how Loki felt all the time? Like he was bigger, better than everyone else?

Was this how Thor felt? Or maybe every single Asgardian felt superior to them.

_'Cause I keep runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' from my heart_

Steve and Natasha ran up the stairs having noticed the lift moving above the civilean access areas and no one having presented themselves.

Natasha had assumed an intruder but JARVIS had assured the otherwise.

However he also said that "Sir is quite distressed as has currently found his way to the roof and is standing dangerously close to the ledge. He is also very drunk."

They raced up the 2 flights of stairs between where they had been sitting to the roof and bust down the door to find

Tony staring down at the city with a bottle of whiskey in his hand and no acknowledgement that they had arrived on the scene.

Steve stared at him unsure of what to do, not wanting to scare him over the edge, not knowing how to save his friend.

Natasha spoke softly moving slowly towards Stark "Stark? Tony? Can you hear me?" She turned to Steve and hissed "Call Pepper."

Before turning back to the broken billionaire "Tony, can you step away from the ledge for me? I'd really like it if you could just come talk to me about this. Tony?"

Nothing she said seemed to be reaching him.

_Oh, I'm coming alive_

_Oh, I'll wake up now and live_

_Oh, I'm coming alive_

_A life that's always been a dream_

_I'll wake up now and live_

He wasn't sure if he was dreaming and when he jumped he would wake up and have to live the next day as he would every other day or if he was awake and dying was the dream but either way he took another step closer to the edge. As he realised he was really going to do this he couldn't help but feel exhilarated. He was going to be able to fly without his suit even if only for a moment.

_I've been standing here my whole life_

_My heart's beating faster_

_I know what I'm after_

It seemed like a lifetime had passed since he had run onto that roof his heart hammered inside his chest and beat in his ears loudly

He could do this.

He wanted this.

_I've been standing here my whole life_

_Everything I've seen twice_

_Now it's time I realized_

_It's spinning back around now_

_On this road I'm crawlin'_

_Save me 'cause I'm fallin'_

_Now I can't seem to breathe right_

Tony closed his eyes and smiled as he took a flying leap of the edge. He whooped with joy as he opened his eyes and realised, he was flying

Sure it was more falling than flying, in fact no flying was involved at all he was a scientist after all

But he pushed those thoughts away as he spun around to look up at the tower only to see a horrified, Pepper, Natasha and Steve screaming down at him and than it hit him:

He didn't leave a suicide note, he was an Avenger and he was very very drunk.

Fury would be mad. Natasha would be stoic. Steve would be righteous and patriotic. Clint would disapproved but he would crack a few jokes. Thor would marvel at his drinking skills and would probably assure everyone he was happy in Valhalla even if he was rotting in Hel . Bruce would probably either shut himself off in the lab or just go back to whatever back water country he was hiding in before.

_Pepper._ His breath hitched. _Pepper would be devastated._ She had known Tony the longest, loved him the most and now she would have to see him die whilst also dealing with whatever the media is going to say about all this. Tony's eyes widened and he tried to scream only to find the air resistance stopping him, instead he yelled "JARVIS!"

_'Cause I keep runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' from my heart_

_'Cause I keep runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' runnin' runnin' runnin'_

_Runnin' from my heart_

Pepper kicked off her heels as she ran to the lift and dragged Steve inside instead of running up the stairs. The duo hopped off the lift a few seconds later to find Black Widow making a mad scramble for Tony's arm as he stepped of the side of Stark Tower. Pepper did the only thing she could when the love of her life just stepped of a skyscraper. She screamed. She raced to the edge and knelt down screaming down at Tony. All sense of reasoning disappeared as Tony disappeared and he mind went blank "TONY!" She screamed with heart felt anguish.

Natasha and Steve joined her in staring over the side stoically. Steve couldn't help but think about how his friends always seemed to fall to their deaths. then they saw Tony spin around and lock eyes with them they saw his expression go from pure unadulterated joy to absolute horror as his eyes widened and his mouth opened to scream. Maybe they were too far away but they didn't hear anything until a few seconds later he screamed "JARVIS!"

Sure enough an Iron Man suit flew through the air and assembled around him, flying him to the roof and depositing him safely in Pepper's arms as she sobbed into his shoulder whilst simultaneously hitting his shoulder. "You idiot! How could you do this to me!? Did you even think about me at all!? You just jumped off a building!"

Tony apologised unsure of the answer to any of those questions

Natasha looked worried "I'll-" She glared at Steve "We'll keep this from Fury as long as you promise not to do this again."

Steve nodded his confirmation.

Tony couldn't look at either of them. Instead he managed to pry Pepper off of him and walked to the door which now had a busted lock courtesy of Captain America. "Yeah... thanks. I'll be in the lab if anyone needs me." He pleaded quickly "And please no one tell Bruce about this."


	29. Medicine (Inspired by Daughter)

_Pick it up, pick it all up.  
And start again.  
You've got a second chance,  
You could go home.  
Escape it all.  
It's just irrelevant._

He picked up the arm that Stark had ripped off. Stark. He had to keep reminding himself this was _Tony_ Stark not Howard. Howard was dead. He had killed him. Murdered him in cold blood. No wonder Tony had been so mad at him, The Soldier couldn't blame him for that. Bucky. The name still felt foreign on his tongue despite how easily it slipped from Captain America's- Steve's mouth.

He was starting to remember more and more about Steve, his best friend, his home.

He had best friend. Steve would do anything for him, they could go on the run maybe be vigilantes, or just give it up be _normal_ for once in his life.

_It's just medicine.  
It's just medicine._

The killing. The murder. Howard Stark. None of it was his fault'/em he recited to himself for the millionth time. It was Hydra. Hydra pumped him full of chemicals to keep him alive, kept him frozen on ice, kept him around for decades to do their killing, to kill Howard and Maria, to kill Steve even.

_You could still be,_  
_What you want to,_  
_What you said you were,_  
_When I met you._

"Bucky."

"I'm not Bucky anymore."

"Well you're certainly not The Soldier!" Steve grabbed his shoulders and it took all of his will not to slam him into the ground.

It was true he _wasn't_ The Winter Soldier any more, no longer forced to their bidding. But he couldn't stomach the name Bucky. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. "Could you just call me Barnes? Or James?"

Steve smiled sadly, the light didn't reach his eyes like it should "Yeah okay. James it is."

James wanted to hit himself, he was upsetting Steve, the one guy who hadn't given up on him for 70 years and he wouldn't even let him call him Bucky.

"You know... James... You're not so different that you don't deserve the name Bucky."

James head snapped up to look at him slightly confused

"I know it's not really the same thing but... but I know how you feel. When I woke up in the 21st century I couldn't take it. Everything was different, I didn't think I even deserved the name Captain America I was such a mess. I wouldn't leave the old SHIELD bunkers or I guess they're SSR bunkers."

_You've got a warm heart,_  
_You've got a beautiful brain._  
_But it's disintegrating,_  
_From all the medicine._  
_From all the medicine._  
_From all the medicine._  
_Medicine._

"What you've done over the decades, they- they were terrible yes, but they weren't you. I know you. You wouldn't have done any of that stuff." Steve continued

"But I did Steve! I did do all that stuff!" Bucky all but yelled, hands shaking as the memories whirled through his head.

"No that was Hydra!"

"It was my body Steve. My hands putting together gun after gun and shooting people down like they were just moving targets!"

em Steve getting beat up in an alley way and him saving his sorry ass. Steve saving him from a nazi base along with 200 other soldiers. Steve reaching out his hand as he fell off the train mouth open yelling his name. Steve disappearing from view as he fell right back into the clutches of Hydra. And then it was just a mesh of blood and death wrought by him.

"You were brainwashed! You were manipulated and tortured and coerced into doing whatever you've done."

_You could still be_  
_What you want to be_  
_What you said you were,_  
_When you met me._

"You're still you Buck." Steve's voice softened from yelling to almost a whisper "You're a good person. And a hero. You – you- you're my best friend."

_You could still be_  
_What you want to_  
_What you said you were,_  
_When I met you_  
_When you met me._  
_When I met you._

He could still be what he wants to be. He had free will again.

What did I want to be? A soldier? A hero? Steve's best friend?

He thought back to when he and Steve were just kids. When they first met. When Steve's parents died of some sickness. When his own mother took Steve in even though his father had died too. When had protected Steve from bullies and dangers.

"I just want to protect you. That's what I want to do." The word 'want' felt weird on his tongue. He hadn't 'wanted' anything in so long the feeling was almost alien to him.

Steve smiled at him again, this time the spark reached his eyes, the glittered, whether with tears or euphoria was hard to tell but he was happy and that was all that mattered to Bucky. "Well you can't protect me if we're both dead, or in jail. Let's get out of here.

And so the two World War II soldiers left an unconscious Ironman on the floor with a shield shaped hole in his chest plate.


End file.
